Finance Assistant at Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) - Holland

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) is an international, private, non-governmental, non-profit humanitarian organization. Our organization offers assistance to populations in distress, to victims of natural or man-made disasters, to victims of armed conflict, without discrimination irrespective of race, religion, creed or political affiliation. We have been working in Nigeria since February 1996. A Memorandum of Understanding between Medecins Sans Frontieres and the Federal Government of Nigeria facilitates this. We are at present co-operating with the Federal Ministry of Health, State and Local Government departments of health on various health projects.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Finance Assistant

Location: Makurdi, Benue
Job Type: Indefinite
Duty Station: MSF OCA, Benue Project

Main Objective and Responsibility of the Position

• Execute administrative and finance related tasks and follow up of project accountancy to support the Project Finance Manager following MSF standard and procedures, in order to ensure legal compliance and keep a strict control over monetary resources to achieve project objectives.

Generic Accountabilities

• Implementing cash management procedures in order to ensure the highest control and security, assisting the Project Finance Manager in the prevision of monthly treasury and planning in order to ensure the coverage of daily needs, advances on salaries, payroll, etc.
• Processing the payment to suppliers and keep strict on all documentation involved, informing the administration manager of any sort of disparity.
• Carrying out all accounting tasks and activities, classifying, preparing and filing of all accounting pieces in accounting software, in order to ensure strict control of all expenditures and the reliability of statements and documentation.
• Following up of all expiring rental contract dates and inform the Administration Manager in order to leave enough time to arrange a renewal or look for some other alternative.
• Making all administrative information available to the staff (posting, meetings, etc.), supporting the Project Finance Manager in translating documents into local language and assisting in meetings upon request.
• Maintain and update cashbook movements for each petty cash box, record all in and out transactions to ensure that cashbox balances always reflect the actual amount of money kept in the cashboxes and investigate any discrepancy.
• Adhere to minimum and maximum petty cash limits.Ensure strict compliance with cash control procedures for each cashbox (daily cash control, weekly cash inventory) to ensure reliable and updated financial information.
• Monitor cash advances by ensuring that MSF rules and protocols are followed and the amounts advanced will be duly refunded within the prescribed timelines.
• Keep track of bills / vouchers and other running costs and analyze the related information (costs, service contracts) to give reliable information about the mission functioning.
• Ensure all receipts meet MSF requirements (deadlines, information, signatures etc;)
• Checking individual entries and preparing the necessary administrative documents (originals) as a basis for justification and explanation of payments and receipts made.
• Prepare the hard copies according to the month-end checklist and ensure proper filing and archiving of financial documentation.
• Review the projects’ bookkeeping to ensure that the supporting documentation complies with the finance policy standards.
• Send weekly cash reconciliations and cashbox reports to Coordination for checking and hard post cash entries on Unifield on a weekly basis in a timely manner.
• Following up the payment process with referral hospitals and agreed pharmacies, collecting the invoices from those locations on a monthly basis, checking the initial invoice details and amounts, sharing them with MTL for his/her validation, and processing the payment upon the validation of MTL, under the supervision of HR / Finance Manager.
• Maintain and update schedule of all contracts and payment installments (suppliers and rental agreements)Prepare tax and pension payments and reports within the prescribed deadlines.
• Flexibility in undertaking assigned tasks, due to the changing nature of MSF operations.
• Any other administrative task delegated by the Project Finance Manager.

Requirements (Qualifications / Experience / Knowledge)
Applicants must meet the following criteria:

Education:

• Desirable Finance, Business or Administration related Diploma.

Experience:

• Essential previous working experience of at least two years in relevant jobs.
• Desirable experience in MSF or other NGOs in developing countries.

Knowledge:

• Essential computer literacy (word, excel, internet).

Languages:

• Mission language and local language essential.

Competences:

• Results and Quality Orientation L2.
• Team work and Cooperation L2.
• Behavioral Flexibility L2.
• Commitment to MSF Principles L2.
• Stress Management L3.

Application Closing Date
28th October, 2021.